Lock for elevator hoisting-engines.



T. W. SHOTTO.

LocK Fon ELEvAToR HolsTlNG ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED JLLY 3|, 1916.

Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l lux T. W. SHOTTO.

LOCK FOR ELEVATOR HOISTING ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED IuIY 31, Isls.

1,204,322 Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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THEODORE W. SEGTTO, 0F SCR/ANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

LOCK FOR ELEVATOR HOIS'IING-ENGINES.

Application tied July si, 191s.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, Trrnononn lll. Srror'ro, a citizen of the United States, residingat Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locks for Elevator Hoisting-Engines; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to elevators, and more especially to the motor mechanism thereof which includes a winding drum; and the object of the same is the production of a lock applied to the control lever for said drum or to the throttle lever of the engine which drives the drum, so as to prevent the movement of this lever (herein called the main lever) by the engineer until it is unlocked by an operator at a remote point.

The invention is peculiarly applicable to the hoisting engines used for actuating mine elevators in pairs, and the lock actuating' devices are herein described and shown as controlled electrically by the operator at that level of the mine from which coal is being taken, although l do not wish to be limited to electrical means. In such use of the invention it also contemplates the use of audible and visible signals to the engineer, which may well be actuated byxthe same electrical impulse that moves the lock. In this connection it may be well to explain that each shaft of a coal mine is equipped with two carriages or cages operated by a steel cable running over a vwindlass or drum at the head of the shaft, one cage rising as the other descends. The drum is rotated by an engine alternately in one direction and the other, and the latter is in charge of an engineer. The main lever hereinafter referred to may be that which connects the drum with the engine, that which controls the clutch, or the throttle lever itself. At the head of the shaft is a head man who operates the landing chairswhich may project beneath the cage at the surface so vthat it cannot beV lowered accidentally, and it is the duty of this operator to remove the loaded car and replace it with an empty one, and then withdraw the chairs and signal the engineer. At the foot of the shaft or at that ,level which we are considering,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 7, Serial No. 112,359.

is vthe foot man whose duty it is to re- `move an empty car and replace it with a loaded one, and then signal the engineer. rhe two signals are usually of different tone, and the engineer must get both before he starts the drum to exchange the position of the cages. ln a busy mine there are between six hundred and a thousand cars raised per day, and if the engineer does not move the drinn promptly after having been signaled, one or both the operators give him a second signal. Confusion therefore often results, because the head man may give him two signals before the foot man` has given him any; and as a result the engineer often starts the drum before the exchange of cars has been made at the level being worked, sometimes breaking a cage or other equipment, and sometimes injuring men. rlhe idea and purpose of this invention is to so lock the main lever that the engineer cannot start the engine and drum until the foot man has signaled. Even if the engineer should leave his post or his attention be detracted, the provision of a visible signal leaves something for him to see when he looks back at his work. would still employ a signal to be loperated by the head man, but it saould be of different kind and tone and is in no way connected with the lock which forms an essential feature of this invention, because the uppermost cage cannot be lowered so long as the landing chairs are projected. I repeat that while l have set forth electrical means for actuating the signals, this is not necessary.

One successful method of carrying eut the present invention is set forth in the following specification and shown in the ac companying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a sectional view of a mine and its hoisting mechanism, the latter being equipped with this invention and the circuits being shown diagrammatically. Fig. is an enlarged front elevation of the lock and signal mechanism as applied to the main lever, `Fig. 3 is -a horizontal section on about the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. el is a side elevation of the main lever and its thumb lever on a reduced scale, showing the relative position of the fingers with relation to said thumb lever when closed.

ln Fig. l is shown a mine shaft S with various drifts or levels whereof we are interested fully that lettered L, head man H at the surface andthe toot man F in said level, Vcages Gand C supported by a steel cable or roperB- which passes over a windlass or drum D, and the hoisting mechanism or engine E with the main or throttle lever M and thumb lever T. The 'signal B is here a bell shown as adapted to be struck by a clapper which is moved electrically through a circuit diagrammatically indicated and closed by a push button P within reach of the foot man F, whereas the signal B is entirely a separate bell also electrically actuated by a circuit closed by the push button P within reach of the head man. No novelty is claimed for the parts thus far described, and they are all in common use in many coal mines today.

Coming now to the details of the present invention, the numeral 1 designates a base plate on which at 2 is pivoted a swinging lever 3 having laterally projecting iingers 4l and 5 standing respectively in front and in rear of the thumb lever T at a time when the main lever M is in such position that the drum D is idle, and therefore this end of the swinging lever constitutes a lock for preventing movement of the main lever. Its other Vor rear end carries a curved arm 6 having a slot or opening 7 so disposed that when locked as seen in full lines in Figp a bolt 8 is dropped through this opening. A spring 9 is properly disposed to exert pressure in the direction of the arrow across it in' Fig. 3, and therefore when the bolt is raised out of the opening the entire lever will Vswing to the dotted position and unlock the main lever. In so doing the linger 5 lirst pushes the thumb lever forward a little, and then the finger el entirely clears it. As soon as this lever isjfree it may be moved rela-l tive to the main lever M, and then both moved to start the engine or the drum in a manner which will need no further illustration. In fact the thumb lever T may engage a toothedsector as these levers do usually, butras this forms no part of the invention I have not thought it necessary to illustrate it. Y Y

IVhen the signal B is actuated electrically the circuit leading from the mine level L through asource of energy may well be connectedV with an electromagnet or solenoid 10 whoseV armature 11 carries the bell clapper 12, and mounted in suitable guides 13 is a push rod lfl'having one end 15 standingadjacent said armature and the other end 16 carrying a disk, preferably painted white or some other striking color so that the engineer may see Vit readily. In the construction shown in Fig.VV 2 a bracket 17 forms a pivotal support for a rock lever 18, one extremity of' which stands over said disk and the other eXtremity of which is connected by a link 19 with the bolt 8. Vithout further illustration it will be clear that-if the signal B weresounded pneumatically, for instance, Vthe movement of its clapper might actuate the push rod and the visible signal 16 equally well. It is not at all necessary that the other signal B controlled by the head man be of any particular type or construction, save that I would have it sound much different from the signal B, but as it is not essential to the present invention, we need not consider it.

In operation, with the parts standing as seen in Figs. 9. and 3, let us assume that the head man has exchanged the cars on theupper cage C as seen in Fig. 1 and has given his signal at B. As soon as the foot man makes his exchange on the cage C, he closes the circuit by pressing the button P, and current in the electromagnet 10 attracts the armature 11 and throws the clapper 12 against the bellB-thereby giving his audible signal, so that the engineer has now had two bells of different sound.V Movement of the armature 11 to the right slides the push rod 14 through its guides 13 and moves the disk 16, so that the engineer now has a visible signal 4in case he has become confused With several audible signals. Movement of the disk to the right rocks the lever 18 and raises the bolt 8, and this permits the spring 9 to swing the lever 3 to the position shownin dotted lines in Fig. 3. This moves the thumb lever T slightly and unlocks it, so that the engineer not only has other visible proof that the foot man has signaled, but his main lever M is now free for movement. Then he moves it the position of the cages is exchanged quickly, the head man projects the landing chairs beneath the cage C', the other cage C comes opposite the level L so that the foot man may make his exchange of cars, and the entire operation is repeated. The fact that all this must be done so rapidly an'd so many times each day attests theV need for my invention which, as will now beY seen, comprises not onlyV aV lock for the main lever which is released solely by the foot man, but a visible signal and in fact two visible signals for the engineer (also actuated by the foot man) in addition to the audible signals now in common use. When the'engineer restores his levers to the full-lined position of Fig. 3, the swinging lever 3 is automatically moved back to aV point where the bolt S drops into the opening 7 by gravity, and in doing so the rock lever 18 is swung and the disk 16 and push rod 14: are restored tothe position shown in Fig. 2, ready for a repetition of the operation described. g

WhatI claim is: Y 1. A main lever lock comprising a swinging lever having lateral'ingers adapted to pass astride said main lever and an arcuateV arm provided with an opening, Vyielding' means normally swinging this lever to unlock themain lever, a bolt normally engagloo ing said opening when the parts are locked, and n cans for retracting the bolt from a distant point.

2. A main lever lock comprising a swinging' lever having lateral lingers adapted to pass astride said main lever and an arm provided with an opening, yielding means normally swinging this lever to unlock the main lever, a bolt normally engaging said opening when the parts are locked,y a rock lever pivoted between its ends, g, link connecting one extremity thereof with said bolt, an audible signal sounded from a distant point, and a push rod having' one end moved when said signal is sounded and the other end engaging the second extremity of said rock lever, for. the purpose set forth.

n main lever lock comprising a swinging lever having lingers adapted to pass astride said main lever and provided with an opening, yielding means normally swinging this lever to unlock the main lever, a bolt normally engaging said opening when the parts are locked, a rock lever pivoted between its ends and connected at one extremity with said bolt, and a movable visible signal engaging the other extremity of the rock lever and actuated from a. distant point.

4. A main lever lock comprising a pivoted swinging lever one arm having lateral fingers adapted to pass astride said main lever and the other arm provided with an opening, yielding' means normally swinging this lever to unlock the main lever, a bolt normally engaging said opening when the parts are locked, a rock lever pivoted between its ends and connected at one extremity with said bolt, an audible signal including a. movable member, means for moving the latter from a distant point to sound the signal, and a visible signa-l including a movable element one end of which engages said member and the other end of which engages the other extremity of said rock lever, for the purpose set forth.

5. A main lever, a swinging lever having fingers adapted to lock said main lever when the swinging lever is in one position, a spring tending' to throw it out of said position, and a. bolt for holding it locked against the tension of said spring; combined with mechanism for retracting said bolt, an audible signal including' a swinging member, a g'uide and a visible signal consisting of a push rod sliding in the guide and having one end engaged by said member and a disk at its other end engaging said bolt-actuating mechanism, the whole operating substantially as described.

6. main lever, a swinging lever having lingers adapted to lock said main lever when the swinging lever is in one position, a spring tending to throw it out of said position, and a bolt for holding it locked against the tension of said spring; combined with mechanism for retracting said bolt, an electromag'net, a bell signal whose clapper is mounted on the armature of said magnet, a push rod having one end standing in the path of said armature, and a disk at its other end engaging said bolt-actuating mechanism, the whole operating substantially as described.

ln testimony whereof I aliix my signature.

THEODORE lV. SHOTTO.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ofiPatents,

' Washington, '.D. C.

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